


Other Fish in the Sea

by garrideb



Category: Psych
Genre: Crime Fighting, Episode Related, F/F, Femslash, First Kiss, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-07
Updated: 2011-08-07
Packaged: 2017-10-22 08:57:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/236334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garrideb/pseuds/garrideb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Juliet isn't a sore loser. She didn't land Shawn, and now she just wants to put it behind her.  Going out with April - the quirky marine biologist with a penchant for weird break-ins - seems like a good place to start.  Set after <i>An Evening with Mr. Yang</i>.<br/>Written: 11/2009</p>
            </blockquote>





	Other Fish in the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to my LJ [here](http://garrideb.livejournal.com/10513.html).

She couldn’t blame Shawn for her own crappy timing, Juliet realized, and the thought just made her more miserable. It was a Friday evening shortly after the Mr. Yang case - the one where Shawn amazed them all by catching a notorious serial killer; the one where Shawn's mother was kidnapped; and yeah, the one where Juliet asked Shawn out on a date while he was apparently already out on a date.

She had just gotten off work and was getting in her car. Tomorrow was her day off, and she had no plans for either tonight or tomorrow. It was sad, and it was allowing her to dwell on her even sadder crush on Shawn.

Well, no, not a crush. A crush implied schoolgirl innocence and unreturned infatuation. This was different. Juliet was attracted to Shawn, and she knew that Shawn was attracted to her, too.

This wasn’t her as a girl, standing in the band room and playing nervously with her snap bracelet while working up the courage to talk to the cute boy sitting at the piano. This was her as an adult, weighing her relationship with Shawn and finally willing to move forward. And this was her, shot down.

 _You know what you need?_ An inner voice asked. _Go out for pineapple smoothies with your girlfriends, Jules._ It was probably a bad sign that her inner voice sounded like Shawn.

 _What girlfriends?_ She asked inner-Shawn. _This isn’t Sex and the City._

Inner-Shawn didn’t respond, possibly shocked into silence or possibly distracted by something shiny. Juliet sighed. She did have friends, mostly from school, but they were scattered across the west coast and not the kinds of friends she could call up for a drink on short notice.

The closest she’d come to having those those kinds of friends was her stint on the roller derby team. She frowned thoughtfully; they hadn’t all been vicious criminals. Maybe Sally Scythe and Hazardous Waster had forgiven her for arresting half the team..?

No, she didn’t want to poke that hornet’s nest, but it did give her an idea. She had met a kindred soul on a different case recently. They hadn’t kept in touch, but Juliet thought she still had her number. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contact list. Yes, there it was - April’s number.

Just thinking of April’s cheerful nature and earnest love of sea life warmed Juliet. Satisfied with her decision, she slipped on her ear bud and pressed the call button.

She felt her stomach flutter when April picked up with a sunny, “Is there a problem, officer?” So April had kept her number, too.

Juliet responded in kind, easily slipping into a professional demeanor. “I wanted to check up on how things are going at the aquarium. No trouble with coworkers? Unusual activity? Suspicious deaths?” Okay, perhaps she spent too much time with Lassiter.

“The sting ray in the east tank died unexpectedly, but we’ve ruled out foul play.”

Juliet grinned. “Look, my social life is pretty nonexistent right now, and I was wondering if you had any plans.”

There was a long pause, and Juliet was starting to get nervous. Then April replied with an unexpected burst of words. “This is perfect! There’s this new club I’ve heard about called the Octopus’s Garden that I’ve been dying to check out, but I didn’t want to go alone. Of course, if you’re not into clubs we could do something else.”

“No, no - clubbing sounds great! What kind of club is it?” She asked, wondering what to wear.

“I don’t really know.”

“Well, what have you heard about it?”

“Just the name, actually. Isn’t it an awesome name? If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a groovy oldies-themed club. Or a bondage club.”

Juliet frowned, wondering what kind of outfit would cover both possibilities.

“Oh, and can you pick me up at the aquarium? I rode my bike here, and I’d hate to have helmet hair at a new club.”

“Don’t you need to change?” Juliet asked, fishing for an idea of what April would be wearing, at the very least. She hated being odd man out when it came to clothes. She still flushed when thinking of the prom dress incident.

“I’ve got several changes of clothes in my office, and the aquarium has a nice shower. Sort of necessary when a hazard of the job is smelling like fish.”

“I know exactly what you mean! The smell of crime scenes can be a bitch to get out.”

There was an awkward pause.

“So I’ll pick you up at eight?” Juliet offered.

April said that sounded fine, and they said their goodbyes. Juliet finished the drive home with her spirits lifted and Shawn pushed to the back of her mind. She had more important things to consider, like whether black leather boots could be successfully paired with tie-dyed skirts.

* * *

April looked great. It had been a while since someone had so happily climbed into Juliet’s car. “How are things at the aquarium?” She asked as she pulled out of the parking lot and into the Friday night traffic.

“Good, good. How are things at the station?”

“Can’t complain.”

Silence descended on the car. Juliet tried out a few conversation starters in her head as she turned on the radio. Enjoying the weather? No, that was stupid. It had been warm and sunny all week; of course she had enjoyed it. Did you hear about Brett Farve? That’s messed up, right? But what if April didn’t know about Farve? Could Juliet afford to go on a football monologue so early in their acquaintanceship?

April turned to look at her with shining eyes. “I heard about how Shawn helped the police catch the Yin Yang Killer. Is it true she was targeting him?”

“Yeah,” Juliet swallowed. “There are a lot of details I can’t discuss yet. I could tell you about the cafe laptop snatcher case, but the Yang case still has too many loose ends.”

“Understandable. Is Shawn okay?”

“Shaken, I think, but yes, he’s good. He even made it to a date a few hours after we arrested the suspect.”

April gave her a sympathetic look. “Not with you, I take it?”

Juliet shrugged. “He’s dating a friend from high school now.”

“Gus?”

Juliet shook her head.

“Wow, I was zero for two.” April paused. “I’m sorry it didn’t happen, Juliet. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

“Yeah,” Juliet said with some forced cheerfulness. “Gus is a real catch.”

April laughed.

When they reached the club it looked dark and empty. Below the twisty neon letters of the club’s admittedly awesome name there hung a sign reading ‘Opening Soon!’

“Huh,” April said. “I could’ve sworn...”

Juliet glared at the sign. It wasn't the poor posterboard’s fault, but if April just wanted to go home and Juliet’s night out was ruined she had to blame something. Should she suggest a bar? What did young marine biologists do on Friday nights?

April was peering at the building with a curious expression. “It looks like there’s a second story window on the side,” she said. “Are you more of a climber or a booster?”

“I like coffee,” Juliet said quickly. “We could get some coffee. Do you like coffee?”

April smiled. “If it’s organically grown free-trade served with yuppie pretension and caramel syrup, then yes, I like coffee.”

Juliet steered April away from the club with a firm hand on her back. “You pick out the coffee house and I’ll drive.”

* * *

They chatted about the dearly departed Shabby on their way to the Tide Pool coffee house. There was perhaps a theme to April’s taste in names, Juliet mused as she meticulously parallel parked between a Prius and a Lexus Hybrid.

Her phone rang, and she automatically put on her ear bud. She was still technically driving. Then she looked at her phone. It was Shawn; he had changed his name in her contact list to _TBird99_. He must have known she’d remember him in the football uniform every time he called. She silenced the phone and slipped it into her purse.

“Was that work?” April asked as they got out of the car and entered the coffee shop. Juliet opened the door for April and the other woman gave her a teasing grin. “Are you being called to solve a dastardly crime?”

With purely cosmic timing, a shrill scream rang out. “My laptop!”

Juliet dashed towards the cry of distress. As she entered the back room she saw a figure with a laptop-sized shape in his or her arms bolt out of the back door, setting off the fire alarm. All around, the coffee shop patrons were looking up from their laptops and books as if awakening from a spell. Juliet ignored them and sprinted after the figure.

She focused on the sound of pounding footsteps as her eyes adjusted to the night. “Freeze!” She called as she followed the sound. “Police!”

The footsteps stopped. Juliet slowed down, listening hard. They were in a narrow alley that ran behind the shops. It was very dark where she was standing, but not too much further there was a street lamp where the alley met the street. The suspect would not be able to exit that way unnoticed.

Her eyes were adjusting. She couldn’t see anyone - just the uneven backs of buildings and a couple dumpsters. She called out again. “Come out slowly with your hands up!”

No one came out.

Her phone rang, She kept her eyes on the alley as she reached into her purse, and then spared a split second to look at the screen. If it was Lassiter, she could ask for assistance. If it was Shawn she could send a passive aggressive text message when this was over.

It was April. Realizing she still had her earpiece on, Juliet brought a hand to her ear and answered. April’s breathless voice flooded her ear. “You can’t see it where you’re standing, but there’s a sort of... nook behind that dumpster to your left. He’s standing there. Oh, and I called the cops, so you should have help soon. Please don’t do anything dangerous.”

Juliet resisted the temptation to look around for April. Instead she found the spot April had described and approached slowly. She had learned, after all, to simply put trust in certain things.

“Resisting arrest will make this much worse for you,” Juliet called out. “Put your hands up and step out from behind the dumpster!” Still, there was nothing. Juliet paused at a spot where she could see the edge of the nook. There was no way he could escape without confronting her. She could hear her own breathing, April’s breathing over the ear bud, and the suspect’s breathing. Then she heard sirens.

The suspect bolted towards her, throwing the laptop at her as he attempted to maneuver around her. The laptop was a fluorescent pink, easy to see even in the darkness. She caught the laptop and tripped the suspect as he ran by, instantly keeping him immobile with a foot on his upper back. At that moment, a couple of flashlights lit up the alleyway and a familiar voice demanded that everyone freeze.

Juliet looked into Buzz’s surprised face as the man on the ground moaned. “He’s all yours, McNab.” She said. “I didn’t bring my handcuffs.”

“That,” April said over the ear bud, “was so hot.”

It was just as well that it was too dark to see her blush. “Thanks.”

McNab gave her a loopy grin. “Not a problem.”

She carried the laptop back inside, where a barista had kept anyone from leaving before the police arrived. Most of the patrons were standing by the windows, trying to see the action.

“My laptop!” Came a cry of awed happiness. A man who must have been six foot four and three hundred pounds reached out for the computer in Juliet’s hands. “I can’t believe you saved her!” The patrons had turned to watch the happy reunion. There was a smattering of applause as Juliet returned the laptop to its grateful owner. April’s laugh was ringing in her ear.

“Where are you?” Juliet asked after finding a quiet corner.

“The roof.”

“And how did you get up there?”

“The stairs are in the office. Uh... the manager let me in?”

Juliet decided not to press the issue. Instead she found the stairs and joined April.

The roof was flat and plain with a wall about two feet high spanning the side facing the street. April was standing with one foot up on the wall, looking like a sailor standing on the prow of her ship. Juliet cleared her throat and stepped towards her. “Thanks for helping me. I don’t think I would have found him without you.”

“You know,” April said, “every time we meet, we mete out justice. That’s pretty awesome.”

“It’s only been twice.”

“I want to do this again. Get together, I mean. Stopping thieves is a bonus.”

Juliet grinned. “I want to do this again, too. I like you a lot, April.”

April took Juliet’s hand. “I have a confession to make. When I met Shawn, I was scouting for a boyfriend. And I thought he was a great catch. Now I think I had my eye on the wrong person.”

It was impossible for Juliet to miss April’s meaning. She took a shaky breath. “I have a confession, too. When you asked me if I was into Shawn, at first I thought you wanted to know if I was available. And it was really flattering, and even though I haven’t had a girlfriend since college, I thought I wouldn’t mind dating someone as fantastic as you.”

April tugged Juliet closer and kissed her. Juliet wrapped her arms languidly around April as their lips parted and came together in waves of unhurried kisses. The constant, changing sensation sent tingles through Juliet’s whole body. “Want to take this off the roof?” She asked.

“I don’t know, I like it up here. I can secretly protect the city from here.”

They kissed.

“Watch out, or I might uncover your secret identity as a super hero.” Juliet warned, and bumped noses as she leaned in again.

“You’re one to talk. You know who you reminded me of, with the blonde ponytail, black jacket and ass-kicking? Black Canary.”

“Oh god,” Juliet moaned as April nipped at her neck. “You read comics?”

“Sure do. Love Birds of Prey.”

“You reminded me of Oracle, the way you fed me intel from up here. Oh! Go lower, yes!”

They paused to catch their breath a few minutes later. “I’m going to need to go down to the station,” Juliet said casually, or at least as casually as one could after just receiving one’s first hickey in years. “But after...”

April adjusted a bra strap which had been pushed off her shoulder. “My bike is still at the aquarium, so I’ll have to go there anyway. And they haven’t given that office to anyone else yet. What I’m trying to say is, do you want to make out in the soft glow of the dolphin tank?”

A few hours later, with the only light filtering through the blue-green of water and April’s skin hot and sweaty against her, Juliet could only hope that this would last.

* * *

It did. And two weeks later they discovered that the Octopus’s Garden was in fact an oldies-themed club with a room for fans of bondage upstairs.


End file.
